Had a pretty decent night at the tourney yesterday. I actually managed to double up during the Level 1 blinds so that got me off to a good start plus it put Mike (the guy who owns the company that runs these tourneys) on tilt right at the start. Anyhow, Mike is UTG and makes it 160 to go. Four people call when it gets to me on the button. I look down at 89s and since I’m getting at least 5:1 on my money I make the call. Both the blinds fold and Mike is stunned by all the action. Well the flop comes up 995 and Mike makes it 550 to play. It folds to me so I make it 1,100, which irritates Mike who then pushes and I call. He flips up AKs and then starts telling me what a horrible play I made calling him with that hand. So while normally I would agree that it was a bad call against him with an UTG raise, in this case I was on the button getting 5:1 so I put that down as a pretty easy call and a fairly easy lay down if the flop missed me. What do you think, good call or not (and yes, Mike is a solid player)?
Later on, during Level 3 blinds (50/100), I made a mid position raise of 400 with TT, got two callers and the BB pushed. I called and the other two also ended up pushing so I also ended up calling them as well. After all the side pots were worked out, it turns out that I had the only pair, all the A’s were in peoples hands as were ½ the K’s. That ended up working for me quite well as no one improved other than me when the board paired. It was fun having to call out “Doyle, down to four” as I was stacking all those pretty chips.
The next table was pretty nice, a couple of decent size stacks, a mid stack or two and a couple very short ones. Had one sweet hand there. Was dealt Ad6d in the CO and made it 4x BB to go (200/400) and got three callers. Flop came down 7d5d4c. I bet 2,200 and got one caller and two folds. Turn was a Js, and I was not pleased. I bet another 2,200 and Dan went into the tank. About 3 minutes later he finally mucked his hand, gotta love it when you pull off a nice bluff.
Awhile later the final table was announced, I took my seat and my cards went to shit. Actually it wasn’t just my cards, but also the play in general. I really don’t know what happened, it seems like all of a sudden people thought to themselves “Final table, I need to throw in chips with any paint or soooooted cards!” My AKs v K2o, K on the flop with a 2 on the river. 92s, sure I’ll call your 4x BB raise, they’re sooooted! Flush by the river. Over and over, it was surreal. We got down to four and I was down to my last 15,000 with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and I’m on the button with 44. What the heck, the underpairs have been working for everyone else and I know both the blinds will call. I throw in my chips and for the first time at this table, the guy who pairs his A on the flop wins. Oh well, what can you do, das pokah! Who knows, maybe tonight….
Monday, August 07, 2006
Friday, August 04, 2006
Sit In the Chair
Had a so-so day yesterday at the tables. Cashed in two of six SnG’s and bubbled the other four, grrrrr. After that (well during the last SnG anyways) I sat down for the WWdN:Not. Let me start by saying that the SnG I was playing was the longest freaking single-table SnG in history, damn near two hours long. Anyways, the Not was a good time. The hand that stands out the most is the one I played piss-poor. I had an AJ in mid-position and made a decent raise of about 3.5 BB and Katitude called me. During this hand the wife stood in the doorway behind me and was telling me about her day. Now understand that my hearing is not all that great and with the noise of the AC running I have to turn to look at her so I can hear her. So here I am, twisting back and forth throwing hundreds into the pot (flop was AxQ rainbow or something), betting ½ the pot each time and I keep getting called by Kat. So throw in chips and turn back to my conversation. Hear the beep, see another brick, bet ½ the pot and get called again. Turn back to my conversation, hear the beep, see a K on the river bet ½ the pot and get raised from 900 to 1800. I look at the screen, say fuck, realize I have to push or fold and muck my cards. The wife says, “That’s not my fault” and then leaves.
Un.Freaking.Real. There is a chair right next to me that she could have sat down in to talk, that way I could have still focused on the action at the table and carried on a conversation without any real problems. I ended up donking off about 2/3 of my stack in that hand, but at least Kat put them to good use and ended up being the Not of the tourney, so the next one is in her name. I figure she had two pair or a set, I really do not think she made the straight because I do not see her playing a QT down to the river with those bets. The only things I can put her on is AQ, AK, maybe a KQs, but I guess we’ll never know.
Un.Freaking.Real. There is a chair right next to me that she could have sat down in to talk, that way I could have still focused on the action at the table and carried on a conversation without any real problems. I ended up donking off about 2/3 of my stack in that hand, but at least Kat put them to good use and ended up being the Not of the tourney, so the next one is in her name. I figure she had two pair or a set, I really do not think she made the straight because I do not see her playing a QT down to the river with those bets. The only things I can put her on is AQ, AK, maybe a KQs, but I guess we’ll never know.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
A Good Night
Last night I just had too much fun playing online. The WWdN was most excellent with a nice little 8th place finish. Both CJ and Wil joined us from the WSOP so that was quite nice of them to take time from their busy schedules to join us. The first table was pretty interesting with Kattitude, slb, Bobby Bracelet, ISS Spock, Hoyazo, and the LuckBox. Not too long later the empty seats were filled by SoxLover and Gracie. Hoy was the first one out at our table, followed not too long later by CJ. Sorry about that CJ, I was ahead and should have lost to the LuckBox (A7o vs. AKo, 7 on the flop but a K on the river), but I do have a theory about that. Since the LuckBox has been making the rounds there at the WSOP, I suspect that the combination of oils from peoples hands and the wifi craziness you are running into down there add up to decrease the LuckBox Radius of Influence (LBRoI). I suspect that as the number of people who handle your box increases, the LBRoI decreases as a inverse squared function. Just give it a good polish and all will return to normal.
The only other hand that I recall at the moment was courtesy of Waffles. I made a mid position raise with a KQs and Waffles pushed, I called and Waffles showed his Q3s. Waffles got his 3 on the flop and I made a beautiful runner-runner straight. I think I’ll check out my hand history tonight and see what it was that took me out.
Since it was still not too late, I decided to play a bit more for fun. Don’t ask me what compelled me to sign up for a $1 MTT at 10 PM other than I knew I would not be awake that long and just felt like donking off some chips without a huge investment. Turns out I busted out of that one three hours later in 38th. The sad thing is I could have played much longer but I was just so damned tired I couldn’t keep going on. It had been a really fun table and donated most of my stack to one of the fun ones when I called his all-in when I knew I was behind, and I’m glad I was otherwise I would have pretty much doubled up. After that hand the blinds and antes took what I had left in two or three hands. All in all, it was a very fun night.
The only other hand that I recall at the moment was courtesy of Waffles. I made a mid position raise with a KQs and Waffles pushed, I called and Waffles showed his Q3s. Waffles got his 3 on the flop and I made a beautiful runner-runner straight. I think I’ll check out my hand history tonight and see what it was that took me out.
Since it was still not too late, I decided to play a bit more for fun. Don’t ask me what compelled me to sign up for a $1 MTT at 10 PM other than I knew I would not be awake that long and just felt like donking off some chips without a huge investment. Turns out I busted out of that one three hours later in 38th. The sad thing is I could have played much longer but I was just so damned tired I couldn’t keep going on. It had been a really fun table and donated most of my stack to one of the fun ones when I called his all-in when I knew I was behind, and I’m glad I was otherwise I would have pretty much doubled up. After that hand the blinds and antes took what I had left in two or three hands. All in all, it was a very fun night.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Third
Well I had a decent game last night. It was pretty scary at first as when we came back from break I was down to 2,000 and the blinds were 100/200. I got quite lucky and was getting some decent cards along with some aggressive play and I managed to build my stack enough to get in site of the final table. Too bad the cards went so damn cold on me before the final table started; I sat down at the final with only 11,000 in chips and blinds at 1,000/2,000.
I only got to see a couple of flops before I was down to 8,000 and had to post my bb. I looked down and there was 55 looking back at me. There was on caller and then the big stack went all in against me. Since the blinds were about to go up, effectively dropping my M to one, I called—he is known for playing bs when he has a stack. He had pocket fours against my fives, and imagine my shock when I hit quads on the flop. Thanks to that I managed to keep myself going till I busted out in third.
With that finish I have plenty of points for the monthly game and it also put me into eighth place overall in the running totals, but not by much. I’ll be slugging it out with a couple of my good friends as we all struggle to make (or stay in) the top nine, which wraps up at the end of August. In September they hold the “Second Chance” tourney for those who did not qualify for the six month tourney (can you say poker cruise to Mexico in December) at which time there is the “Best of the Best” tourney for the top nine for a trip to Vegas.
I can remember last year when I started playing with this group in December. They were already half way through the September to February six month period and I actually managed to make it into the six-month game in that time. The six-month game is a two-day deep stack tourney and I actually made it about half way through day two. Personally I was quite proud of that as I had only been playing cards for less than six months. It still astounds me that with less than a year’s worth of experience, I am in the top nine of 700+ players, and all of the ones at the top have been playing for 5,10, 20 or more years.
Several of the players now know what my typical ranges are. I have been starting to use this to my advantage whenever I can to pull off the occasional bluff. It has been working out pretty well because in the past two and a half weeks I have only been busted out before the last two tables once, and sadly have had about seven bubbles. Now that I am playing the people at the table rather than just my cards, it has been giving me some help. Now if I can just get a bit better at putting them on a hand I should be able to go much further and give my game a nice boost.
I only got to see a couple of flops before I was down to 8,000 and had to post my bb. I looked down and there was 55 looking back at me. There was on caller and then the big stack went all in against me. Since the blinds were about to go up, effectively dropping my M to one, I called—he is known for playing bs when he has a stack. He had pocket fours against my fives, and imagine my shock when I hit quads on the flop. Thanks to that I managed to keep myself going till I busted out in third.
With that finish I have plenty of points for the monthly game and it also put me into eighth place overall in the running totals, but not by much. I’ll be slugging it out with a couple of my good friends as we all struggle to make (or stay in) the top nine, which wraps up at the end of August. In September they hold the “Second Chance” tourney for those who did not qualify for the six month tourney (can you say poker cruise to Mexico in December) at which time there is the “Best of the Best” tourney for the top nine for a trip to Vegas.
I can remember last year when I started playing with this group in December. They were already half way through the September to February six month period and I actually managed to make it into the six-month game in that time. The six-month game is a two-day deep stack tourney and I actually made it about half way through day two. Personally I was quite proud of that as I had only been playing cards for less than six months. It still astounds me that with less than a year’s worth of experience, I am in the top nine of 700+ players, and all of the ones at the top have been playing for 5,10, 20 or more years.
Several of the players now know what my typical ranges are. I have been starting to use this to my advantage whenever I can to pull off the occasional bluff. It has been working out pretty well because in the past two and a half weeks I have only been busted out before the last two tables once, and sadly have had about seven bubbles. Now that I am playing the people at the table rather than just my cards, it has been giving me some help. Now if I can just get a bit better at putting them on a hand I should be able to go much further and give my game a nice boost.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Moneymaker Millions...A Donkfest of Epic Proportions
My oh my, what a donkfest that was last night. Sadly I spaced out the DADI, but I did decided to try out the new freeroll on PokerStars, the MoneyMaker Millions. There were over 9,500 people signed up to play so you know what a wild ride it would be. Before Level Two blinds were completed about 40% of the field had been eliminated.
At first I saw pretty much what I expected to see, the nimrod that would bet 300 with 10/20 blinds every time it got to him. It took all of four hands before he started to get called down and within two orbits had lost about 2/3 of his stack. He then settled down for bit and allowed a bit of more somewhat normal play to ensue, i.e. preflop raises 3x-5x BB, but typically there would still be four to six people calling it to see the flop.
Finally he got himself a marginal hand to play and he push, got two callers and by some miracle his hand held up. Having chips once again he resumed his previous play style and was with us for about two more orbits before his bottom pair with a shit kicker failed to hold.
I had not had the opportunity to play many hands as my cards were all garbage and it was nearly impossible to get a fold without going all-in, and there was at least a 40% chance of getting called if you did. By the time we got to Level 3 I was down to about 1,350 when I got an AJs in mid position, made a standard raise of 3x BB and got, you guessed it, five callers. Flop came down KTQ rainbow and there was a 200 bet into the 750 pot in front of me. That got one fold, I made it 750 to go, got one caller one more fold and the original raiser pushed (he had me well covered). I called as did the person who called my original 750. The guy who pushed was holding KTo, the other person had, get this, Q9o. Turn was a J, river a T, and my beautiful flopped straight went down to the boat on the river. The KT I can kind of understand, he probably put me on an A with my other card pairing the board so he probably figured he was ahead. But the Q9? Second pair with a gut shot calling two all-ins, well played sir.
In all, I outlasted about 60% of the field. That’s right, 60% gone before the first break. It was a truly unprecedented donkfest the likes of which I had never before seen. As for me, I can’t complain, had my hand held I would have been sitting fairly well, but the suck out on the river gave me an early night. I’ll have to try it again one day soon.
At first I saw pretty much what I expected to see, the nimrod that would bet 300 with 10/20 blinds every time it got to him. It took all of four hands before he started to get called down and within two orbits had lost about 2/3 of his stack. He then settled down for bit and allowed a bit of more somewhat normal play to ensue, i.e. preflop raises 3x-5x BB, but typically there would still be four to six people calling it to see the flop.
Finally he got himself a marginal hand to play and he push, got two callers and by some miracle his hand held up. Having chips once again he resumed his previous play style and was with us for about two more orbits before his bottom pair with a shit kicker failed to hold.
I had not had the opportunity to play many hands as my cards were all garbage and it was nearly impossible to get a fold without going all-in, and there was at least a 40% chance of getting called if you did. By the time we got to Level 3 I was down to about 1,350 when I got an AJs in mid position, made a standard raise of 3x BB and got, you guessed it, five callers. Flop came down KTQ rainbow and there was a 200 bet into the 750 pot in front of me. That got one fold, I made it 750 to go, got one caller one more fold and the original raiser pushed (he had me well covered). I called as did the person who called my original 750. The guy who pushed was holding KTo, the other person had, get this, Q9o. Turn was a J, river a T, and my beautiful flopped straight went down to the boat on the river. The KT I can kind of understand, he probably put me on an A with my other card pairing the board so he probably figured he was ahead. But the Q9? Second pair with a gut shot calling two all-ins, well played sir.
In all, I outlasted about 60% of the field. That’s right, 60% gone before the first break. It was a truly unprecedented donkfest the likes of which I had never before seen. As for me, I can’t complain, had my hand held I would have been sitting fairly well, but the suck out on the river gave me an early night. I’ll have to try it again one day soon.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Bubbles and Senators
Well I managed to pull off yet another bubble. Actually surprised I made it as long as I did with all the crap I kept getting. Oh well, that’s the way this game goes. I felt pretty good about the hand I bust on. I was one of the short stacks, table was 5 handed and I was in the cut-off. Looked down at a KsQs and made a raise of 5k, making it 7k to go. The table folded around to the big blind, who also happened to be a new one here, and he thought and said, “I’ll put you all in.” I put in my remaining 10k and off we went, he flipped over JJ. A89 on the flop (all red), T on the turn and finally a Q on the river. For a split second I though I had it, till I saw his Q high straight. Why oh why couldn’t he make his set and give me the straight? So now that’s 5 bubbles in 7 games, I think I’m starting to lose my sanity.
Anyhow, don’t forget to write to your Senators and tell them that Sen. Frist is a putz and to vote against his proposed legislation to stop online betting. Give them an analogy they can relate to that will help them understand the skill/luck mix such as an analogy to the stock market. Remind them of all the books that can be studied, databases that can be used to track your performance that you can review to improve your game. Let them know that only a fraction of a percent fall into the “click your mouse, lose your house” category of addictive gamboooolers and find an analogy for them too—I used the day-traders. Let them know that state sanctioned gamboooooling, such as your lotteries, typically give you odds that only some numbnuts donkeyfish poker player would try to beat. And finally, say the magic “T” word. Let them know that they are missing out on potentially billions of taxable revenues and would be an easy new tax to pass. What are you waiting for, get busy and start writing!
Anyhow, don’t forget to write to your Senators and tell them that Sen. Frist is a putz and to vote against his proposed legislation to stop online betting. Give them an analogy they can relate to that will help them understand the skill/luck mix such as an analogy to the stock market. Remind them of all the books that can be studied, databases that can be used to track your performance that you can review to improve your game. Let them know that only a fraction of a percent fall into the “click your mouse, lose your house” category of addictive gamboooolers and find an analogy for them too—I used the day-traders. Let them know that state sanctioned gamboooooling, such as your lotteries, typically give you odds that only some numbnuts donkeyfish poker player would try to beat. And finally, say the magic “T” word. Let them know that they are missing out on potentially billions of taxable revenues and would be an easy new tax to pass. What are you waiting for, get busy and start writing!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
STFU
Well, it looks like I have been running all right as of late. In my past six tourneys I’ve made two final tables and four bubbles, but let me tell you, those bubbles sting. I think that I have just managed to squeak myself back into the top nine (we have 670 players in our little circuit here) and need to stay focused to keep myself there, I should not have taken so much time off—oh well.
Anyways, last night was just one of those nights. After the break I found myself at a table that had two new players and one girl who could just not shut the fuck up. At best we did two orbits per level, and let me tell you, those blinds were eating us up. It was a good thing I managed to at least double up at that table, maybe if we could have played some god dammed cards instead of listing to our girl have to chat for 5 min, then resume shuffle, chat for 5, resume shuffle, chat for 10 start to deal, a few more comments, then finish the deal (she could not talk and do anything with the cards at the same time and of course she always had to be told when it was her turn to act, and no, she was not one of the new ones), it may have been possible to get some more chips before our table got broken up and the blinds jumped to 500/1000.
During that level of blinds I just got slowly pecked away and due to the lack of play at the previous table, did not have a stack to make a play at any of the pots short of going all in, and sadly there was more than one that could make that call and not even notice a difference in their stack whether they won or lost. The thing that sucked the most was just as the big blind was on me and the cards were dealt, the cry “Final Table” was announced. I look down to a Q3o and mucked my cards and gave my blind to the big stack, knowing that I had at least until the big blind hit me at the final table to try to outlast one of the donkeys at the table.
As luck would have it, I was placed in seat 8 at the final table. As I had prognosticated, two people busted out before the big blind got to me. Needless to say, the cards did nothing for me, didn’t even bother to look at them till I had to flip them after the river and the other two finished their betting. 95o was no help on a board of A23 Q 2. So off I went in 7th place and home for a relatively early night.
Anyways, last night was just one of those nights. After the break I found myself at a table that had two new players and one girl who could just not shut the fuck up. At best we did two orbits per level, and let me tell you, those blinds were eating us up. It was a good thing I managed to at least double up at that table, maybe if we could have played some god dammed cards instead of listing to our girl have to chat for 5 min, then resume shuffle, chat for 5, resume shuffle, chat for 10 start to deal, a few more comments, then finish the deal (she could not talk and do anything with the cards at the same time and of course she always had to be told when it was her turn to act, and no, she was not one of the new ones), it may have been possible to get some more chips before our table got broken up and the blinds jumped to 500/1000.
During that level of blinds I just got slowly pecked away and due to the lack of play at the previous table, did not have a stack to make a play at any of the pots short of going all in, and sadly there was more than one that could make that call and not even notice a difference in their stack whether they won or lost. The thing that sucked the most was just as the big blind was on me and the cards were dealt, the cry “Final Table” was announced. I look down to a Q3o and mucked my cards and gave my blind to the big stack, knowing that I had at least until the big blind hit me at the final table to try to outlast one of the donkeys at the table.
As luck would have it, I was placed in seat 8 at the final table. As I had prognosticated, two people busted out before the big blind got to me. Needless to say, the cards did nothing for me, didn’t even bother to look at them till I had to flip them after the river and the other two finished their betting. 95o was no help on a board of A23 Q 2. So off I went in 7th place and home for a relatively early night.
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